Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Q: What's for dinner, dear? A: Reservations.

Actually, it was more like, "Where are you taking me for dinner, you big lug?"  Ummm....OK, I'm up for a nice meal out, too, but with this caveat:  I want to try some place different.  I'm tired of chain restaurants.


We had tried this place in downtown Frisco for Saturday brunch once, but it was so packed I don't think I got the full ambiance.  I was hoping a weekday evening would be more relaxed, and it was.


I had "Reina's Shrimp Tostadas"....lots of grilled shrimp, onions, avocado, pico de gallo, sour cream, and rice, served with a tangy sauce on the side, and it was fantastic!  K had fish tacos and liked them, but after a taste of mine she said that's what she would have if when we come back.

Dallas has lots of restaurants, advertised to be 4-times as many per capita as New York City.  The down side to this statistic is that almost all of them are part of one or another chain.  On the Border, Bone Daddy's, Landry's, Carrabba's, Cheesecake Factory, etc....I enjoy them all, but they seem to be too institutional and predictable.  

We need more of the mom and pop cafes and diners.  I don't know why we don't have more of them as the few we've been to seemed popular.  I suspect they're all located in the farther-out small towns.

For an encore I've found Jorg's Cafe Vienna in old downtown Plano and it had rave reviews.  K is less than enthusiastic about that type cuisine, probably because Austrian/German food is not at all common around here.  I think we should go for it.  Worst case, we don't go back.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

S

8 comments:

  1. Wow your meal looks fabulous!

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  2. I would definitely go somewhere called Jorg's. My first question would be is it pronounced Georg's or Yourg's? I would say the latter since it's German. At some point I'd like to try fish tacos, but with my digestion I can't really eat any spicy stuff so I don't usually frequent places that would serve that. In Detroit we have a lot of "coney island" diners, but even those now are getting bought up by 3 chains so everything kind of homogenizes these days I guess.

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  3. I call them Highway Restaurants. They are good, and reasonable and service is usually polite and fast, but for a really good dinner out those restaurants not run and owned by Wall Street are the best...or the worst...ya just have to take a chance and experiment.

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  4. I think reservations are a perfectly acceptable thing to make for dinner. I'm not a professional chef, why on earth would I choose to cook? I don't do my own plumbing!

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    1. Excellent analogy Kellie. :)

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    2. I keep asking my wife why all the new homes have gourmet kitchens. Do you really need an eight burner, stainless steel, commercial quality stove to boil water?

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  5. Hah - I like the way Kellie thinks!

    I'm envious of your German restaurant. The "J" in "Jörg" is pronounced like the "Y" in "Yes." The "ö" is pronounced like the "i" in "girl." And then the "r" and the "g." Just order the Wiener Schnitzel (which is a very thin veal filet, breaded and fried) and thank me later.

    Sheesh...now I'm homesick.

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